Inside Unmanned Systems

AUG-SEP 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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30 unmanned systems
inside
August/September 2018
AIR
IPP NORTH DAKOTA
work with CNN and law enforcement
to conduct these f lights, and hope to
eventually find a way for media and
emergency responders to deploy drones
simultaneously.
"If law enforcement is at a scene it
might be a newsworthy event and CNN
or an affiliate might want to deploy a
drone," said Nick Flom, executive di-
rector of the Northern Plains UAS Test
Site, which is part of the North Dakota
IPP team. "That coordination piece is
challenging and the short answer for
CNN and other news media is they can't
be in that area. So we're looking at how
we can engage both of those parties in
an ops-over-people environment, may-
be using a UAS Traffic Management-
like system for coordination so they
don't have to pick up the phone. Instead,
it would be automated."
This project will be completed in a
layered approached, Flom said, start-
ing with f lights over people in con-
trolled air space and then moving to
the coordination of multiple news and
law enforcement drones.
While they'll deploy two drones at
first to test coordination, that number
could grow, Buchholz said.
"Right now, we're starting with the
risk factor and with safety in mind,"
Buchholz said. "First, we're going to
deploy one system to make sure we can
validate the data. In the future, we'll
have multiple drones. We'll start with
two in controlled airspace and could
go further than that, but we have to be
able to prove the safety case. We expect
to eventually have multiple drones us-
ing sensor development to detect and
avoid so they're not conf licting with
one another."
transmission lines they inspect today
tend to be located in rural areas, mak-
ing the missions fairly straightforward.
The IPP team wants to take this a step
further and actually deploy drones to
inspect the distribution lines found in
cities.
"We're adding to the complexity by
doing more urban environment opera-
tions, while still focusing on BVLOS,"
Flom said. "That adds value to the
research."
Buchholz ex pec t s both pha ses
to last three to six months, he said.
Depending on the outcomes, once ini-
tial testing is complete, the team will
either dig deeper into these research
areas or start looking at some of the
other initiatives that were part of their
IPP application.
THE CHALLENGES
With both projects, the team will
conduct community outreach in the
towns and communities where testing
will take place, Buchholz said. While
it's good to get the public involved and
to gain insights from their feedback,
this type of engagement could lead
to obstacles along the way, especially
if someone objects to drone f lights in
their neighborhood because they don't
understand the benefit.
"Public outreach is a challenge," Flom
said. "How do I get the public to see that
a drone flying over a distribution line is
Photo courtesy of CNN.
UTILITY INSPECTION
Working with Xcel Energy for distribution line inspection is an important part of the
IPP project because Xcel will be able to enhance services for their customers while
also getting the local communities involved in the process, said Nick Flom, Executive
Director of the Northern Plains UAS Test Site.
"Customers have high reliance on the energy grid," Flom said. "Finding fault from
an inspection standpoint is important, and from an IPP standpoint this a repeatable
process that brings in local government to be part of a solution."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
on how CNN and other media
are using drones to report the
news, read News From
a Different Angle at
insideunmanndsystems.com.
RELATED
STORIES ONLINE
North Dakota is one of the
largest UAS users in the
country. It's only going to
grow further. Being part
of IPP will help streamline
processes and make
operations safer and
easier."
Russ Buchholz, the North Dakota Department of
Transportation director and Information Technology
Division/UAS Integration Program administrator
"
For the second phase, the focus
will shift to BVLOS f lights with Xcel
Energy. These f lights will be a bit more
complicated, so it will likely take lon-
ger to obtain waiver approvals from
the FAA, Buchholz said, which is why
this testing isn't expected to begin un-
til September.
Xcel Energy already has approvals
for BVLOS f lights for transmission
line inspections, Flom said, and this
project will build upon the work the
company has already done. How? The